“When I saw Lauvao do that, I kind of was just pissed that he was doing that and just nudged him,” Ngata said after the game, via The Baltimore Sun. “Kind of a heat-of-the-moment thing. That was the only thing. I was just trying to protect my player.

“No disrespect to Shawn because we know each other. It was the heat of the moment, and just was mad that he tried a late hit.”

Ngata has been a rock on Baltimore’s defensive line for the better part of a decade now, playing in 123 of a possible 128 games since entering the league in 2006.